2.4 The Verb Être

The verb être (to be) is an irregular verb in the present tense. In il/elle/on est form, the s is not pronounced. In the vous êtes form, the s is pronounced as a or z to link with the vowel ê in êtes.

The Singular Form of the Verb Être
Person French English
1st person Je suis I am
2nd person Tu es You are
3rd person Il est
Elle est
On est
He/it is
She/it is
One/we is
The Plural Form of the Verb Être
Person French English
1st person Nous sommes We are
2nd person Vous êtes You are (formal or plural)
3rd person Ils sont
Elles  sont
They (masc.) are
They (fem.) are

Exercice 7 : Être

Part A

Write the proper form of the verb être in each blank. Then write an English translation for each sentence. If you do not know what a word means, make your best guess.

Fill in the Blanks

  1. Je [Blank 1] intelligent.
  2. Marie [Blank 2] mexicaine.
  3. Nous [Blank 3] contents.
  4. Philippe [Blank 4] petit.
  5. Elles [Blank 5] intelligentes.
  6. Hélène [Blank 6] blonde.
  7. Vous [Blank 7] français?
  8. Je [Blank 8] français.
  9. Georges et Marie [Blank 9] petits.
  10. Le président [Blank 10] sérieux.
  11. Tu [Blank 11] content?
  12. Paul et moi [Blank 12] canadiens.

Part B

Now write an English translation for each sentence. If you do not know what a word means, make your best guess.

This section includes content derived from Liberté, originally released under CC BY-NC-SA, and Tex’s French Grammar, originally released under CC BY 3.0.

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Introduction to French Copyright © 2017 by Rita Palacios Ph.D. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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